Alinma Bank Aspire captained by Jojo de Silva is determined to improve its ranking after it clinched its third Team of the Week honors during the 12th session in the Interbank Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh (ITBR) league at the InterContinental Hotel Bowling Center here.
Aspire demolished SABB-SAMA 541-90 in a grueling match to leapfrog two places to second in the team standings. The quartet of team captain Jojo de Silva, Gelo Train, last session’s Bowler of the Week Jerry Barce and Willie Bondoc produced exceptional four-game series of 862, 813, 780 and 759.
They were supported by Ranier Torres and Abdulrahman Ahmed who rolled 362 and 325.
Aspire was the first team to deliver a perfect 520 win points with additional 21 bonus points when they exceeded the 1,000 points output during the second game.
SABB-SAMA team captain Teody Zulaybar failed to find the right combination though his team matched the level of its opponent in three games and be rewarded with 90 bonus points. Jun Bolocboloc and Bernie Torres tallied 735 and 711. Dawod Sereno, Freddie Solomon, David Smart, Jun Macarandan and Clem Guelas fired 387, 359, 356, 353 and 321 while Remy Generales had 189.
SAIB skipper Dong Calub produced a superb performance to shoot 879 (201, 222, 207 and 245) and become the Bowler of the Week. SAIB, bye team in action, was the second highest scorer of the week on 390. Dong was supported by Agie Dazo and Edwin Fontiveros who rolled 778 and 748 while Boy Rogel, Ariel Diaz had 529 and 510 and Joey Salem and Eddison Austria 173 and 149.
Meantime, PNB Unified continued to dominate the leaderboard blanking Alinma Bank Tefa’al 370-0. The quartet of Ronald Cruz, Sonny Alviso, James Frizzle and Tenz Taeza fired 862, 727, 716 and 654. Koko Torres (755), Soc Mejia (713), captain Bobby Ting (712), Dario Magundayao (555) and Zohair Oqilan (520) were the scorers at Tefa’al.
BSF downed SABB Advance 210-80. Edwin Timango fired 834 at the helm of BSF with Yusuf Fernandez on 666, while Ric Camara, Francis Guron, Danny Encinas, and Noel Morales rolled 532, 531, 521, and 504.
It was another disappointing week for SABB Advance with only 80 win points to show. Sam Alinsod was the lead scorer with 771 followed by Jaffer Al Kathiri (713), Arnold Jesena (703), Gerry Austria (675) and Ahmed Al Qarquosh (610).
The match between Saudi Hollandi Bank and BSF-CBG ended in a 2-2 draw. However, SHB secured the 30 bonus points in the 160-130 result. On top of SHB was John Warain with 767 followed by Val Baraquio (723), Gil Hembra (715), captain Greg Antonio (701) and Rodel Yap (625).
Abet Minosa, Guilbert Masias and Alfred Estrada led BSF-CBG with 749, 697 and 664. Art Bumatay rolled 474 while captain Ken Hechanova and Ricky Domingues had 331 and 314. Rey Abuloc made 171.
Sponsors for the weekly and monthly prizes include Sky Freight Forwarders through GM Emy De Guzman and Jimmy Hugo, Central Region manager, and Alinma Bank through Abdulmohsen Al Mulhem, assistant GM, Retail Banking Group.
Standings (Week 12): 1. PNB Unified 3,081 points 2. Alinma Aspire 2,942 3. SABB-SAMA 2,671 4. SHB 2,573 5. SABB Advance 2,468 6. BSF 1,942 7. SAIB 1,940 8. BSF-CBG 1,500 9. Alinma Tefa’al 1,310 10. Unified Team 0
Alinma Bank scores Team of the Week treble
Alinma Bank scores Team of the Week treble
With 100 days to go, World Cup faces new challenges with Iran war and Mexico violence
- It’s not unusual for international politics to overshadow a global sports event like the World Cup
- Iran is set to play two group stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle
GENEVA: With 100 days to go until the World Cup, the Iran war has added a new layer of complexity to the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
How the conflict will affect the world’s most watched sporting event is the latest issue facing organizers already grappling with cartel violence in one of Mexico’s host cities, scaled-back plans for fan festivals in the US and criticism from fans against soaring ticket prices.
Officials of the qualified teams are meeting with FIFA staff in Atlanta this week. The tournament kicks off on June 11 when Mexico plays South Africa in Mexico City. It will be the biggest World Cup ever with 48 participating teams, up from 32 at the previous tournament in Qatar.
Here’s a look at some of the issues drawing scrutiny as the countdown began.
A backdrop of geopolitical tension
It’s not unusual for international politics to overshadow a global sports event like the World Cup — at least in the early stages before the soccer action takes over the headlines.
In 2022, Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and others matters drew headlines off the field.
Pride community rights, the annexation of Crimea and the poisoning of a spy in Britain were in focus when Russia hosted the tournament in 2018.
In Brazil in 2014 and South Africa in 2010 there were concerns about crime and security.
The 2026 tournament looks set to kick off amid a backdrop of political tensions involving the US and the participating nations.
Many have been hit by tariffs. Some are facing travel restrictions. Denmark, which can still qualify through playoffs in March, has been shaken by President Donald Trump’s calls for the US to take over Greenland. And with 100 days to go, the US was in a military conflict with Iran, one of the first teams to qualify.
Iran’s status at the World Cup is unclear
Iran is set to play two group stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.
However, whether the Iranian team will come to the US is uncertain.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Iran’s top soccer official, Mehdi Taj, said last weekend as the US and Israel launched coordinated attacks that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens more senior officials.
Still, Iran has not announced it is withdrawing from the tournament, which no team that qualified has done in the past 75 years. Iran, the second-highest ranked team in Asia, was drawn in a group with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand.
“I really don’t care,” if Iran participates, Trump told Politico on Tuesday. “I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes.”
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request on whether Iran federation officials attended the Atlanta workshop.
Fan festivals are being slimmed down
Fan festivals have been a key part of the World Cup experience in the past two decades. They offer a chance for thousands of fans without match tickets to take part in the World Cup atmosphere by coming together to watch games on a big screen.
Some of those plans are now being scaled back in the US
New York/New Jersey eliminated its Fan Fest in Jersey City, New Jersey, even though it had started selling tickets for an event scheduled to be open every day of the tournament.
Planning to sell tickets was itself unprecedented for World Cup fan zones, which were free to enter since being launched at the 2006 edition in Germany.
Seattle cut down its original plan and rescheduled it for smaller venues and Boston trimmed its event to 16 days.
The chief operating officer of Miami’s FIFA World Cup host committee said during a congressional hearing on Feb. 24 that it might cancel its event if it did not receive federal funding within 30 days. Kansas City, Missouri, Police Deputy Chief Joseph Maybin said the city had an immediate need for federal funds to prepare security.
House Republicans said federal money may be held up by the partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, caused by Democrats insisting restrictions be placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Foxborough games threatened
The New England Patriots’ stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, is due to host seven World Cup games, starting with Haiti-Scotland on June 13 and ending with a quarterfinal on July 9. That is FIFA’s plan.
The Select Board of Foxborough has refused to issue a permit for World Cup matches at the stadium and set a March 17 deadline to be paid $7.8 million — what the town estimates will be the cost of police and other expenses. Foxborough said it was not part of FIFA’s hosting agreement with Boston.
Pushback against FIFA’s ticket prices
FIFA has about 7 million seats to fill for the World Cup matches and said last month it received 500 million ticket requests. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proclaimed all 104 games are sold out and yet some fans received emails last week offering an extra 48-hour window for tickets sales.
FIFA’s prices in December ranged up to $8,680 per ticket. After criticism, FIFA said it will offer a few hundred $60 tickets for every game to the 48 national federations in the tournament. Those federations will decide how to distribute them to their most loyal fans who attended previous games.
Most seats on FIFA’s ticket resale platform — seeking to cut out the secondary market and earn FIFA extra 15 percent fees from buyers and sellers — are well past the $1,000 mark.
Cartel violence in Mexico
Mexico’s ability to co-host the World Cup has been under scrutiny after a surge in violence last week in the state of Jalisco following the military’s killing of a powerful cartel boss.
The state’s capital, Guadalajara, is set to host four matches during the group stage.
Mexico’s government insists the World Cup won’t be affected and President Claudia Sheinbaum said there’s no risk for fans coming to the tournament.
Infantino told Sheinbaum that he has full confidence in Mexico as a World Cup host.
The FIFA leader has repeatedly promised the 2026 World Cup will be the greatest and most inclusive.
